Find a starting point for your task
Try the example closest to your task, then change the steps to fit. For a leaking tap, start by taking a photo from two angles so you can identify the problem. For a dissertation, work a chapter at a time. You’re choosing among 16 pre-written sets with 112 steps and 182 sub-steps, not getting a custom plan. If nothing matches, start by describing “finished”, listing what you need and finding the first missing thing. You won’t find dedicated plans for cooking, weddings or learning an instrument.
There are 5 sets for paperwork and admin:
- Try “Renew my passport” when you need to renew a passport or other id.
- Try “File my tax return” when you need to tax return or official form.
- Try “Get a refund for the broken headphones” when you need to call, email, cancel or dispute something.
- Try “Book a dentist appointment” when you need to health appointment.
- Try “Sort out my budget” when you need to sort out money.
There are 5 sets for home and plans:
- Try “Move to a new flat” when you need to move home.
- Try “Fix the leaking kitchen tap” when you need to home repair or diy.
- Try “Clear out the garage” when you need to clear out or organise a space.
- Try “Plan our trip to Lisbon” when you need to plan a trip.
- Try “Plan a 40th birthday party” when you need to plan a party or event.
There are 4 sets for writing and study:
- Try “Write a blog post about our launch” when you need to write an essay or article.
- Try “Write my dissertation” when you need to dissertation or thesis.
- Try “Revise for my statistics exam” when you need to study for an exam or course.
- Try “Prepare the quarterly review presentation” when you need to prepare a presentation or talk.
There are 2 sets for work:
- Try “Apply for the product manager job” when you need to job search or application.
- Try “Launch my portfolio website” when you need to build or launch a project.
Choose how long you can work
Treat the minutes as rough guesses and adjust them to your task. We wouldn’t reserve an afternoon based on the dissertation estimate: four hours for a literature review may be far too short. If you have 15 minutes at a time, you can split a 60-minute step across four sittings. Change the estimate when you know better and check how many sittings you’ll need.
If starting is the hard part, set 5-minute blocks. That is the NHS Every Mind Matters to-do list technique: plan to spend just five minutes on the thing and it feels manageable. After five minutes, decide whether to continue. Press Break this down on a step until the first sub-step is something you could do right now. For the passport that is “photograph the photo page so the number is to hand”. One minute, and you have started. That is the setting we would use on anything we had been avoiding for a month; the 60-minute blocks are for a job you have already begun.
The list lives in this tab and nowhere else. Download it before you close the page, or the ticks go with it.
What it will not do is reorder the steps for you, and we think that is right: the order is most of the advice.